Abstract: Chiefly his papers as Attorney General of California,
1942-1946; some material pertaining to his offices and judgeships, Los Angeles;
State Senatorship; Prohibition repeal; legal problems of World War II, including
Japanese evacuation and war industry reconversion; control of venereal diseases;
U.S.-Mexican water negotiations; Indian claims; National and International Lawyers
Guilds; minority groups and civil rights; United Nations Conference, San Francisco,
1945; the Nuremberg trials; support of Henry A. Wallace as Presidential candidate;
private law practice.

Languages Represented:
English

Physical Location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Information for Researchers

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection
materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94270-6000. Consent is
given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and
is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such
permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .

Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use
of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

A collection of portraits and photographs of Kenny and his colleagues, political
campaign rallies, photographs of California sheriffs, etc. were removed to
portrait drawer 2406-2544.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.

Wallace, Henry A. (Henry Agard), 1888-1965

California. Legislature. Senate

Republican Party (Calif.)

Democratic Party (Calif.)

National Lawyers Guild

California. Office of the Attorney General

Judges--California

Lawyers--California

Prohibition

World War, 1939-1945--Evacuation of civilians

Japanese--California

Water-supply--California

Indians of North America--California

Sexually transmitted diseases

Civil rights--California

Minorities--California

California--Politics and government

Los Angeles (Calif.)--Politics and government

California--Economic conditions

United States--Foreign relations--Mexico

Biographical Information

Robert Walker Kenny was born in Los Angeles, California, on August 21, 1901. His
father was Robert W. Kenny, Sr., (1863-1914) a prominent banker and civic leader in
Los Angeles and Berkeley, California. The elder Kenny's father, George Kenny,
arrived in San Francisco in the early 1850s with his brothers-in-law A. L. Bancroft
and Hubert Howe Bancroft. The three men formed a partnership and established the
first bookstore in San Francisco. R. W. Kenny's maternal grandfather, George
Carleton, was a pioneer orange grower in Riverside County, California, and a leader
in the Methodist Church in Southern California.

Kenny was educated at Harvard Military Academy and the University of Southern
California Preparatory School, both in Los Angeles. He received his A.B. degree from
Stanford University in 1921. He later studied law at the University of Southern
California and was admitted to the State of California bar in 1926.

From 1921 to 1927 Kenny worked as a newspaper reporter in the United States and
Europe for various publication and press services, including the United Press in San
Francisco, Los Angeles and London, the
Chicago
Tribune
in Paris, France, and for the following Los Angeles newspapers:
Los Angeles Evening Herald, Los Angeles Times and
Los Angeles
Examiner.

After his admittance to the Bar in 1926, Kenny was appointed in 1927 on the basis of
a competitive civil service examination, to the position of Deputy Counsel for Los
Angeles County in which capacity he served until 1931. While Deputy County Counsel,
Kenny was assigned to attend sessions of the California Legislature at Sacramento
under the auspices of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce to handle bills affecting
Los Angeles County.

After working actively in the 1930 campaign for the election of James Rolph,
Republican, as Governor, Kenny was appointed by Rolph to the Municipal Court of Los
Angeles on September 14, 1931, and in 1932 he was elevated to the Superior Court.

At this stage of his career Kenny considered himself a "liberal" Republican and in
this role worked actively as a "wet" for the repeal of the 18th Amendment in 1932
under the banner of the Crusaders, a Los Angeles organization dedicated to the
repeal of the Prohibition Amendment. Kenny's anti-Prohibition attitudes also found
expression in his work with the Liberal League, another Los Angeles non-partisan
political organization which, in addition to its "wet" orientation vigorously sought
to defeat the incumbent Los Angeles mayor, John C. Porter. In the hotly contested
mayoralty election of 1933 Kenny worked with the Liberal League on behalf of
candidate Frank L. Shaw who defeated Porter decisively.

In 1934 Kenny sought his first elective office, his position on the Superior Court
bench to which he had been appointed originally by Governor Rolph. In this campaign
Kenny received support from broad segments of the area and won easily.

In 1938 Kenny ran as a Democrat for the State Senate. He won both the Democratic and
Republican nominations in the primary election and went on to defeat his Progressive
Party opponent in the general election by an overwhelming margin. In the same
campaign he served as Chairman of the State Democratic Central Finance Committee for
the election of Culbert L. Olson to the office of Governor.

While in the State Senate Kenny became the Administration's floor leader but soon
disaffected from Governor Olson's program on a number of major issues. In 1940 Kenny
participated in an unsuccessful attempt to recall Governor Olson. In this effort he
offered himself as a candidate for the Governor's post in case a recall attempt
against Olson succeeded.

In November 1942 Kenny running as a Democrat was elected Attorney General for the
State of California for a four year term. In this election he quietly supported
Republican candidate Earl Warren against Governor Olson who ran for a second term.
Both Warren and Kenny won their contests by substantial margins.

Among major developments or events occurring during Kenny's incumbency as Attorney
General, January 1, 1943, to December 31, 1946, as reflected in this collection are:
Kenny's interest in civil rights problems growing out of the return of wartime
Japanese evacuees to California; his attendance of and reporting on the Nuremberg
trials of German war criminals in March 1946; his activities in promoting a
favorable solution of the problem of post-war reconversion of West Coast war
industries; his reorganization of the Attorney General's Office; his efforts in
Sacramento and Washington, D.C., to cause the defeat of a proposed U.S.-Mexican
Water Treaty which Kenny believed was contrary to the best interests of the people
of California; his activities to bring to a successful conclusion several decades of
effort by the Indians of California to obtain a cash settlement of their claims
against the United States Government based on treaties signed by representatives of
the Government with the tribes in the 1850s; his participation in two dramatic
criminal cases, which involved members of racial minority groups — the
so-called Sleepy Lagoon Case and the Turner Case; his active intervention in the
"Zoot Suit" riots of Los Angeles during World War II; his vigorous fight against the
resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in California in 1946; and his efforts to establish
an international organization of lawyers with a liberal-oriented point of view
during the organizing sessions of the United Nations Organization in San Francisco
in 1945.

In May 1946 Kenny announced that he would run for governor. His opponent was Earl
Warren, who was seeking his second term. Kenny and Warren cross-filed and thereby
appeared in opposition to each other on the ballots of both major parties in the
primary election of June 1946. Warren defeated Kenny on both ballots, to retain his
governorship for 4 more years. Kenny completed his term as Attorney General in
December 1946 and thereafter returned to private law practice in Los Angeles.

Selected List of Public and Private Offices held by Robert W. Kenny

Deputy County Counsel of Los Angeles County, 1927-1931

Municipal Judge, Los Angeles County, 1931-1932

Superior Court Judge, Los Angeles County, 1932-1938

Chairman, Democratic State Central Finance Committee, 1938

State Senator from Los Angeles area, 1939-1942

Director, Tivoli Beer Company

Partner in law firm of Vallee, Beilenson and Kenny, 1939

President, National Lawyers Guild, 1940-1948

Attorney General, State of California, January 1943-December 1946

Director, Los Angeles County Law Library Board, 1943

President, California Housing and Planning Association, 1943

Director, Oceanic Oil Company, 1944

Member, Advisory Pardon Board, 1944

Chairman, California Commission on Interstate Cooperation,
1945-1946.

Scope and Content of Collection

The collection contains a small amount of correspondence and printed material dating
beyond the end of Kenny's term as Attorney General. Much of this material deals with
his activity in 1947 to promote Henry Wallace as an independent candidate for the
Presidency. (Carton 13, Misc. Political Campaign, 1947)

The correspondence, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, speeches, press releases,
personal miscellany and political campaign material reflect in varying degrees all
phases of Kenny's professional and political career. The great bulk of the
collection, however, deals with his service as Attorney General, State of
California, from January 1943 to December 1946, and in the same period, his
activities as an executive in various private and public organizations. A
considerable amount of the letters received and sent by Kenny as Attorney General
are concerned with the routine responsibilities and administrative operations of his
office, including those of his principal subordinates. Among such material are
requests for employment and for letters of recommendation, routine correspondence
relating to meetings, conferences, speaking engagements and travel, acknowledgement
of receipt of minutes of meetings and reports, formal and informal opinions
regarding proposed and enacted legislation prepared by deputies of the Attorney
General's Office.

All political campaigns in which Kenny was an active participant are represented in
varying degrees in the collection. These include: the "wet" campaign of the
"Crusaders" in 1932; the Los Angeles mayoralty contest of 1933, as an adherent of
the "Liberal League;" Kenny's campaign in 1934 to serve as Superior Court judge;
Culbert Olson's gubernatorial campaign and Kenny's contest for State Senate in 1938;
campaign for Attorney General in 1942; and Kenny's unsuccessful race for Governor
against Earl Warren in 1946.

The collection contains correspondence reflecting other official appointive posts
held by Kenny while Attorney General. These include: Chairman, California Commission
on Interstate Cooperation; member, Advisory Pardon Board and Director, Los Angeles
County Law Library. At the same time he occupied the office of President, National
Lawyers Guild, and for two years he served as President, California Housing and
Planning Association.

The collection also contains some correspondence relating to Kenny's private law
practice and other business connections. With respect to the former, there is
correspondence by Kenny as a member of the firm of Vallee, Beilenson and Kenny from
1939 to 1940, and later correspondence relating to his law partnership with Morris
E. Cohn. Kenny's private business associations included his serving on the boards of
directors of the Citizens' National Bank, Oceanic Oil Company and the Tivoli Beer
Company.

Copies of letters sent by subordinate officials and employees of Kenny's office are
interfiled in proper chronological sequence with letters originating with Kenny.
Letters and memoranda by such individuals addressed to Kenny are filed
alphabetically by name of the writer in Interoffice Memoranda (Boxes 40 and 41).

The Kenny collection was given to the Bancroft Library by Robert W. Kenny in December
1952.

Additional Kenny papers are at UCLA. Janet Stevenson tapes of Kenny are deposited
with her papers at the University of Oregon.

Collector of Internal Revenue in San Francisco and political
associate of Kenny.

Note

See Kenny telegram to President Roosevelt, February 28, 1945.

Tallant Tubbs

Note

Republican politician whom Kenny supported for U.S. Senate in
1932.

Note

See Kenny's letter to Tubbs, July 5, 1940.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Note

Writer and friend of Kenny.

Jerry Voorhis

Note

U.S. Congressman from California and a Democrat.

Note

See Kenny letter to Voorhis, June 15, 1944.

Frank Walker

Note

Chairman, Democratic National Committee.

Note

See Kenny letter to Walker, November 8, 1943.

George W. Walker

Note

Kenny's uncle.

Note

See Kenny letter to Walker, September 24, 1931.

Earl Warren

Note

Governor of California during Kenny's term as Attorney General and
Kenny's predecessor in that office.

Walter White

Note

Secretary, National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People.

Note

See White letter to Kenny, May 2, 1946.

Leon R. Yankwich

Note

U.S. District Judge and personal friend of Kenny.

Note

See Kenny letter to Yankwich, February 17, 1944.

Appendix C. List of Individuals and Organizations Corresponding with Kenny

(Appendix B, a selected list of public and private offices held by Robert W. Kenny,
was moved to the Biographical Information section of this electronic finding aid.)

Please note: This list does not include every individual who wrote to Kenny. It is a
list of the folder headings of Boxes 13-39 of the collection. It will not include
the names of many persons who wrote as members of organizations (some of these names
will appear on added entry cards in the Manuscripts Catalog), nor of many persons
from whom there is only one letter in the collection. Single letters from persons or
organizations are filed in the appropriate miscellanies.